Timeline of humanity
I put this recently together for a forum: a rough timeline of humanity, on a scale of 500 years = 1 row.
2000 CE — Modern Era 1500 CE — Renaissance, Age of Discovery 1000 CE — Middle Ages 500 CE — Migration Era; birth of Islam; peopling of Iceland and Madagascar 0 CE — Roman Empire, birth of Christianity 500 BCE — Classical Greece; birth of Buddhism 1000 BCE — Iron Age begins; peopling of Polynesia 1500 BCE — Indo-Iranian invasions of Middle East; Vedic phase of Hinduism 2000 BCE — Stonehenge built; alphabetic writing invented 2500 BCE — Old Kingdom of Egypt, pyramids built; Bantu expansion begins 3000 BCE — beginning of written history at Sumer; domestication of the camel 3500 BCE — desertification of Sahara; domestication of the horse; Proto-Indo-European spoken 4000 BCE — birth of agriculture in Mesoamerica; earliest known cities · · · 5000 BCE · · · 6000 BCE — use of copper and wool is invented; Doggerland sinks · · · 7000 BCE — birth of agriculture in East Asia · · · 8000 BCE — American & Eurasian megafauna extinctions · · · 9000 BCE — Beringia sinks, America disconnected from Siberia · · · 10000 BCE — end of the Ice Age, birth of agriculture in the Middle East · · · 12000 BCE — oldest known evidence of warfare · · · 13000 BCE — the latest green period of Sahara commences · · · 14000 BCE — oldest estimated age of Proto-Afro-Asiatic · · · 17000 BCE — latest established date for peopling of the Americas · · · 18000 BCE — oldest known pottery · · · 20000 BCE · · · 21000 BCE — Last Glacial Maximum, sea levels 125 meters lower · · · 23000 BCE — oldest known permanent settlement · · · 25000 BCE — Neanderthalians go extinct · · · 29000 BCE — oldest known ceramic figures · · · 30000 BCE — domestication of the dog; desertification of Sahara · · · 35000 BCE — the latest glaciation (“Ice Age”) begins · · · 40000 BCE — the age of the known remains of Denisovans · · · 45000 BCE — the start of the peopling of Europe by modern humans; oldest known cave art · · · 50000 BCE — a green period of Sahara commences · · · 55000 BCE · · · 60000 BCE · · · 65000 BCE — the peopling of Australia · · · 70000 BCE — the major Out of Africa migration of modern humans begins · · · 75000 BCE — Toba supervolcano eruption; global human population dips as low as some tens of thousands · · · 80000 BCE · · · 85000 BCE · · · 90000 BCE — desertification of Sahara · · · 95000 BCE · · · 100 000 BCE — oldest known stone buildings · · · · · · · · · 110 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 120 000 BCE — a green period of Sahara commences · · · · · · · · · 130 000 BCE · · · 135 000 BCE — end of the glaciation period before the latest · · · 140 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 150 000 BCE — ancestors of the Khoi-San migrate to southern Africa · · · · · · · · · 160 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 170 000 BCE — oldest approximations for the age of clothing · · · · · · · · · 180 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 190 000 BCE — the glaciation period before the latest begins · · · · · · · · · 200 000 BCE — oldest known stone-tipped spears (possibly invented much earlier still) · · · · · · · · · 210 000 BCE — oldest known signs of modern humans in Southern Europe · · · · · · · · · 220 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 230 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 240 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 250 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 260 000 BCE — oldest known signs of modern humans in Southern Africa · · · · · · · · · 270 000 BCE — oldest known split of human Y-chromosomal haplogroups · · · · · · · · · 280 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 290 000 BCE · · · · · · · · · 300 000 BCE — oldest known signs of modern humans (Jebel Irhoud, Morocco).
